Always My Girl
by Pickwick12
Summary: My Valentine to the wonderful relationship between Rick and Alexis Castle. Rick and Alexis ponder what they love about each other and how their relationship has developed. More than a one-shot now. Enjoy.
1. Always My Girl

Alexis clicked through the photos on her computer screen.

_Dad at her Kindergarten Christmas play, holding a giant camcorder, the kind people had back then. "Smile, Sweetie. Say your lines loud. If you get scared, look at me. Just keep your eyes on me."_

"_Keep your eyes on me, Alexis."_

_

* * *

_Alexis was growing up. Nobody looked at her like a little girl any more. The guys at the precinct had respect for her in their eyes. Detective Beckett saw her as a young woman. Grandma treated her like a friend. Ashley treated her like a queen.

Alexis liked being a grownup, finally recognized for her maturity and strength, for the diligence she had always shown. She enjoyed people finally seeing her for who she truly was, now that she no longer looked like a kid. It was better to be a woman than a girl, better to be respected as an adult than treated like a child.

Usually.

Sometimes Alexis was scared. Sometimes she thought about the neat, organized world she had created around herself, and a cold knot of fear settled in her stomach. What if she failed somehow? What if she couldn't live up to all the things everyone wanted her to do, all the goals she had set for herself? Good had never been enough. She needed perfect. Alexis had been perfect for so long that everyone had come to expect it.

Perfect. Level-headed. Wise. Adult.

They all thought that. All except one.

Alexis remembered the terrifying moment when, as a five-year-old, she had stepped onto the tiny stage all decorated with garish Christmas lights, her head filled with the lines her teacher had given her, more than the other kids because she could memorize so much more quickly. And then she couldn't remember anything.

Pure fear, fueled by the dozens of eyes that stared at her, a crowd that seemed like thousands to the little girl. They all waited, and it felt like they were expecting her to mess up. She could hardly breathe.

And then she remembered.

_Keep your eyes on me, Alexis._

Her eyes found him, sitting in the second row, the camcorder set down on his lap so he could look straight at her. Pure warmth, pure strength. As soon as she saw her father, the lines came back.

Afterward, everyone said Richard Castle's daughter was amazing. So cute. So smart. Going to be something like her father. Alexis knew the reason. She didn't stop looking at her dad until she fell asleep that night.

_Fail or succeed, you'll always be my girl._ That's what those eyes said. _You'll always be my girl._

His girl. That was it.

_All the world's a stage_. That's what Shakespeare wrote, and Alexis couldn't think of a better way to say it. Now, at seventeen, she sometimes felt like she was in that Kindergarten play all over again, paralyzed with fear that she might fail, unable to be the adult she wanted so much to be.

* * *

Alexis turned off her computer and walked into the living room, hoping the faint light she saw meant what it usually did. The soft clicking of computer keys ceased as she approached the shadowed form on the couch. Her father looked up.

Before she could say anything, Alexis felt a flood wash over her—understanding, comfort, affection. His eyes, taking her in, seeing her uncertainty. _Fail or succeed, you'll always be my girl._ He said it without saying a word.

Alexis sat down, resting her head on her father's shoulder as he put his arms around her, listening to his heartbeat, feeling safe.

Her father. The one she didn't have to be perfect for, the one who gave her the strength to grow up.


	2. Gravity

Richard Alexander Rodgers held his daughter close and wondered how many more chances he would have to do this. How long before she would be gone—emotionally, if not physically? He could see changes happening daily—some subtle, like the gradual chiseling of her face as she lost all traces of her childish appearance, others glaring, like the fact that she now spent many of her evenings away from home, enjoying the company of her boyfriend instead of her father and grandmother. Changes, things that made him feel insecure.

Rick Castle was all right with change. Hadn't he sped his way through short-lived marriages, countless characters invented and killed, and numerous friendships, emerging with barely a scratch on his body or his emotions? Rick Castle, the blue-eyed boy who never grew up. But he didn't feel like Rick Castle tonight.

Tonight, every real feeling he possessed seemed to be fighting its way to the surface as his arms sheltered the one constant in his life—Alexis. With a writer's vivid imagination, he pictured his existence without her, empty of the smile that thrilled him with joy every day and the undeserved expressions of love that filled him with warmth. Clear-eyed, warm-souled Alexis. The truth was, he'd been able to live through all the other changes because of her, not because of what she did, but because of who she was. Who would he be without that? Tonight, every bit of him felt like Richard Rodgers—too real, too uncertain, and too human. To Alexis, his arms felt gentle, but he felt like he was holding on for dear life.

After a long time, Alexis stirred. "Dad, are you awake?" Her voice was thick with sleepiness.

"Yeah, Sweetheart." Richard's voice sounded hollow in his ears.

She shifted slightly until she was at his eye level, her gaze taking him in—too penetrating, too knowing, too painful in its perceptions. Someone, Richard couldn't remember who, once said that having a child was like having your heart walk around outside your body. Alexis was certainly his heart, and sometimes that heart saw more than he meant to tell.

"Dad, do you remember the story of the Light Princess?"

"Of course, Sweetie. I told that one to you when you were a kid."

"Pretty weird story to tell a kid—about a princess who has no gravity until she learns to cry, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Richard smiled, wondering what his daughter was getting at.

"I used to think that story was about romance, but when I got older, I realized it was more than that. Now I know it's about the fact that no one can really live until they've loved something enough to have their heart broken." Richard nodded in agreement, too invested in his daughter's meaning to be amused by her earnestness.

Alexis knelt in front of her father, taking his hands in hers. He looked away from her, trying to contain his emotion. For once, someone else was telling him a story, and he was starting to see the ending.

"Dad, what I'm trying to say is—I know you were Rick Castle before I was born. You were smart and successful and funny. But everybody who knew you before says you're different now. I know you think you changed because of me, Daddy, but you didn't."

"The Light Princess didn't change because of a prince or a spell. She changed because she chose to give her love to someone else without holding anything back, and that's what you did, Dad. You chose to love me enough to—to learn to cry." Her voice faltered, and he felt her wipe away his tears with her thumb.

Alexis put her hands on either side of his face, and he saw tears in her eyes that matched his own. "I choose to love you back, Dad, and that's never going to change, no matter what happens."

Rick Castle felt the arms of his daughter wrap around his neck, and her embrace seemed to contain all the gravity he would ever need.

* * *

**A/N Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well. If you'd like to check out _The Light Princess_, it's a classic fairy tale by George MacDonald.**


	3. Alexis Castle's English Assignment

**English IV Assignment**_: _Write a one-page essay about an encounter with a famous person. You may invent an experience if you have not had one. How did you feel about this encounter? How did the celebrity behave? Did you learn anything through the experience? Be creative and proofread your work. Due Friday morning.

**My Encounter**

**By Alexis Castle, English Honors Class B3**

**March 15, 2011**

This morning, I made breakfast for a famous person. I cooked eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. When I was finished, I waited for him to come out of his room and eat, brushing my hair in the mean time. After a few minutes, one of the best-known writers in the United States came into the kitchen wearing pajama pants and an undershirt, his hair disheveled. He grinned when he saw the food, but before he started eating, he gave me a hug and kiss. That was my most recent encounter with a celebrity named Rick Castle, also known as my father.

In some ways, my entire life has been an encounter with fame. When I was little, I used to fall asleep on my dad's lap at boring dinners—dinners with guests like James Patterson and Brad Pitt. Until I was in fourth or fifth grade, I never realized that having the children of Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winners at birthday parties was unusual. I thought everybody's father was as well known as mine.

When I got older, I found out that most people have no idea what life with a famous person is like, and they think meeting a celebrity will be exciting and special, maybe special enough to change their lives. When we went out together, people would point to my dad in the street and take pictures of him with their cell phones. Sometimes, they would even talk to me about him. The weird part was that they seemed to be talking about a different person than the one I knew.

People would say that my dad was funny, sexy, brilliant, and larger-than-life. I knew him as the guy who picked me up from school every day and kissed my knee when I scraped it, the one who held me when I had nightmares and rode the Dumbo ride with me at Disney World. He was my dad, my hero. Now I know that both pictures of my father are accurate. He is Rick Castle, the witty author and popular celebrity, and he is Rick Castle, the loving and faithful father.

Without even trying, my dad has taught me a great deal about fame. Because of him, I know that celebrities are more than cardboard people, more than images in magazines. At the end of the day, celebrities are just people who happen to be famous. Like my father, they have lives and families and qualities the public never sees. They are somebody's husband or wife, brother or sister, mom or dad.

I believe a person's true worth is not found in how many people know her name or how many people recognize him on the street. Fame is what the world sees, but worth is what a person has when no one is looking. My father is not just a famous author. He is always available when I need him, forgives my mistakes, and helps me become the best person I can be. Those things make him truly worthwhile, more than being famous ever could.

I will always be grateful for the lifelong celebrity encounter that has taught me about fame, about people, and about what is important. Most of all, I am thankful for Rick Castle, the man who has never been too famous to be my dad.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was inspired by my dad, a wonderful father and local celebrity who gets recognized whenever I go out with him :) Please let me know if you're enjoying the story.**


	4. Smiles

Richard Castle walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Alexis and Martha were already gone, and he had been enjoying a well-earned rest after a late night catching a killer. Beckett, true to her word, hadn't called him, and it was after 10:00 a.m.

He opened the fridge to see if anything caught his eye and ended up settling on some of the cold pizza Alexis and Ashley had ordered the night before. Pepperoni. His favorite. While he was munching his first slice, something on the counter caught his eye, an assignment that said **English IV**. Well, Rick Castle knew what he needed to do with his day off—if his baby girl had left an assignment home, he would up and take it to her.

He read the assignment description and felt instantly relieved. "Due Friday morning," it said, plain as day. Today was Wednesday. It was just like Alexis to have an essay done two days early. Rick grinned to himself. His girl's track record remained unblemished.

Curious, he kept reading. A story of an encounter with a famous person. Who would Alexis have picked? Taylor Swift? Anne Rice? One of the other myriad celebrities he'd introduced her to over the years? His heart caught in his throat when he read the first line—_This morning, I made breakfast for a famous person_.

He was her celebrity.

* * *

Later that day, Beckett, Ryan, Esposito, and Castle took late lunches at the precinct. Of course, Castle hadn't been able to stay away, not even when he'd planned to take the day off. Beckett grinned when she saw him striding over to her desk, dressed to the nines in black pinstriped suit and purple shirt. Now, with cheap burrito in hand, she saw him sitting alone in the break room, staring at a piece of paper with a genuine smile on his face.

"You get some new girl's phone number, Castle?" she asked, walking in and sitting down next to him.

"Nah," he said, sliding the paper over to her.

Beckett read the essay. "She's a good writer, Castle."

"Yeah."

It was too personal for Beckett to say how she felt, what it meant to her that her goofy, irritating friend was also one of the best fathers she knew. She couldn't tell him she was happy for him—glad that his daughter saw something of how blessed she was.

She couldn't say it, so she just smiled, and he smiled back.

* * *

**A/N Thanks for enjoying and reviewing the story so far! This chapter goes with the previous one about Alexis's school assignment.**


	5. Something About You

**A/N You need to have read the previous two chapters for this one to make sense. Going into a little Caskett territory lately, but still Rick and Alexis-centric ;) Thanks for reading and enjoying. I'd love to hear your thoughts.**

* * *

"Dad?"

Richard Castle watched his favorite and only daughter rub her sleepy eyes and squint at the early-morning sunlight streaming into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Pumpkin. Would you like to try my French Toast Plus?" Rick proffered a plate with a dubious-looking pile of syrup-covered mush.

"Plus what?"

"Chocolate syrup, fruit loops, peanut, butter, and banana slices! I think the banana is what really does it."

"No, Dad, it's ok. I just thought I left a copy of my English assignment down here. Have you seen it?"

Rick bit his lip and remembered the essay still tucked in his coat pocket. Without his knowledge, a smile crossed his face as he thought about the look on Beckett's face when she read it.

"Daaad?"

He was cornered, with Alexis advancing on him like a small, red-haired bloodhound, forcing his back against the refrigerator.

"I—might've seen it."

"Who else saw it, Dad?" The eyes staring up at Rick were suspicious and narrow.

Drat! How did she always know?

"Detective Beckett," Rick answered without missing a beat. No sense in trying to deceive Alexis.

"Seriously, Dad? You took my English assignment to the precinct?" Alexis rolled her eyes and pursed her lips.

"Hey, you did a great job!" Rick looked down at his daughter and saw a smile starting to tease the corner of her mouth.

"What did Detective Beckett say?"

"She said you're a good writer." Rick grinned at Alexis, hoping she'd be pleased, but she just shook her head.

"Too bad. I was hoping she said something about you."

Rick Castle stood by the refrigerator while his daughter grabbed a piece of toast, kissed his cheek, and headed out the door for school. What did she mean, _something about you_? He wanted to ask, but he was a little afraid of the answer. How much did Alexis see?


	6. What Alexis Saw

**A/N Follows the previous chapter when Rick was wondering exactly what Alexis sees :) Thanks for reading and enjoying the story and for your awesome reviews. I love to hear your thoughts.**

* * *

Her dad wasn't one for waiting.

Alexis always laughed when he picked "rush delivery" on an online order just because he didn't want to wait the extra couple of days. She'd long-ago learned that he would never wait for pizza to be delivered when he could save a few minutes by picking it up. She even had to hide his Christmas and birthday presents at her friend's house so he wouldn't peek. Delayed gratification wasn't his strong suit.

It was the same with romance. Her dad could attract almost any woman he wanted, and he didn't hesitate, treating everyone he dated like a princess. Always successful, never satisfied.

That's why Alexis couldn't believe it. She hadn't thought much about Detective Beckett at first. She was just another woman, one who would either fall under her dad's spell right away or refuse him, which just meant he would move on to someone else, someone easier to grasp.

To Alexis's surprise, it wasn't like that at all.

Detective Beckett hadn't fallen, and her dad hadn't given up. Day in and day out, Alexis watched him take phone calls, go to the precinct at odd hours, do anything Kate wanted or needed. He didn't push too hard or move too fast. For once, Rick Castle was willing to wait.

That's how Alexis knew.

She wasn't even sure he realized it yet, but she was sure. Her dad, the person she loved most in the world, had finally found the one worth waiting for.


	7. Kate's Observations

Kate Beckett watched them out of the corner of her eye. Alexis and Rick stood face-to-face in the break room at the precinct, having one of their animated conversations. Alexis was smiling, a red-haired, gorgeous firecracker, and Rick was watching her like she was the most important thing in the world.

No matter how many times she saw them, Kate was still surprised. Surprised by the way Rick's stance changed from goofy boy to responsible man whenever his daughter was around, the way his eyes took on a look of sweet concern instead of their usual irresponsible twinkle, the way his voice gained a soft authority.

Which one of them was in charge? At the beginning, Kate's money had been on Alexis, the smart, responsible girl with the smile as charming as her father's. No way someone as irresponsible as Rick Castle could stand up to that, right? But it wasn't so simple.

Since then, Kate had seen the subtle push and pull, the way Alexis desperately wanted her father's approval, the way she immediately acquiesced when his voice took on a certain tone. She saw the way he guided his daughter, protected her, led her so subtly she didn't always realize he was doing it. At the end of the day, Rick was dad and Alexis was daughter, even if that relationship didn't look exactly like anyone else's.

Kate smiled and looked at the document on her computer. She hadn't typed a single line. The Castle family had amazing powers of distraction.


	8. College Weekend

"Dad, I'm fine. I like it here." Alexis put her cell phone down and smiled. She wasn't going to run home the first weekend of college. Besides, it would be good for her dad to get used to her being away.

She had a full weekend lined up. First, a Friday night date with a junior named Perry, who wrote for the school newspaper. He was cute. She wasn't going to tell her dad about that one. Probably wouldn't turn into anything anyway. Second, Saturday morning pedicure with her new friend Jade from economics class. Third, study group with people from Comp class. Then, study time.

Perry was boring. He was full of himself and stuck on the fact that his dad was senator. Plus, he had no sense of humor. The only way Alexis made it through the overpriced meal was by imagining the jokes her dad would make about some of Perry's more ridiculous comments.

Jade, it turned out, only wanted to hang out because she'd found out that Alexis's dad was a famous writer. She'd written a romance novel and spent the whole pedicure appointment begging Alexis to pass it on to him. When Alexis said no, Jade ditched her with the whole bill.

Study group was fine except that Alexis was ahead of everyone else. Most of them were doing reading she'd finished by Wednesday night. She left early.

At least there was time to study. Alexis went back to her dorm, but somebody was having a party down the hall, and she had no hope whatsoever of being able to concentrate.

* * *

Saturday afternoons were usually good times for writing. Beckett was finishing up on official paperwork at the precinct, and Castle lounged on his office sofa and poked lazily at his computer keyboard.

He heard the apartment's outside door open, and he wondered if his mother had come home early from her day at the spa. Instead, he was greeted by a tornado of red hair and arms and legs that launched himself into his arms.

"Alexis?"

"Hi, Dad, I came home for the weekend."

* * *

Oh well, thought Alexis, her dad could get used to doing without her another time.


End file.
